Four people ran through the frigid streets. Mei and Miles in the lead. The boy with one hand clutched to his chest, Mei dragging him forward at a demanding pace. Amarant and Tatiana steps behind, the informant with pistol in one hand, Tatiana with the Raikiri blade by her side. Even in the brief few minutes they had been retreating the temperature had dropped further still. Amarant should have been coated in a hot sweat from all the exertion. The best she could do was hunch her shoulders a little and try to keep the cold from creeping any further in. The were pair protected from sub-zero temperature and Honkai radiation by Raikiri's blade ward. Even with such power the air raked limb and chest in it's icy grasp. Any further beyond the blade and the chill of the grave would have claimed the two humans already. Mei unconsciously projected a defensive field, Miles safely cupped within it's embrace.
A crab Honkai beast scuttled down the street toward them, shell and oversized claw a dull grey-white, the joints and underbelly lambent magenta in the misty gloom. Mei snatched Miles up in a princess hold and leapt over the beast. Amarant pulled the smaller Tatiana tight against her chest and slid under. Midway under its vulnerable underside she fired off several quick shots. Accelerated plasma seared through the Honkai crab's body. The beast collapsed just as they reached the rear, Amarant kipping back up and landing running, Tatiana managing to land on her feet as she set her down.
"Left into the flower shop!" Mei called out.
Everyone dashed into the building and came to a skittering halt. The vapour sprinklers had been left on after the evacuation. Before the nozzles had frozen over the floor was coated in a thin film of water. Now a frozen perfect mirror, it was hard to stand upon. Mei slammed her foot down several times to break the ice up and provide a stable footing.
"Just why in the nine burning hells are World Serpent here?" Amarant cursed.
"A pleasant surprise," Mei deadpanned.
"Honestly… I should have anticipated this. It's my failure, dear customer."
"Nobody would have thought that World Serpent would be operating within the Coral at a time like this."
"Taking advantage of chaos is their modus operadi." Amarant started ticking off fingers. "Feels off. Cocky them wanting to take us alive. A Herrscher is here. Should be worried about running into Schicksal. Durandal or Rita would deal with whatever the Honkai turned into its latest puppet. That's a hell of a risk."
The shop they waited in was both beautiful and a testament to apocalypse they found themselves in. Rows of plants, vibrant flowers frozen in time, icicles dangling off the shelves. The smell of greenery and tilled soil mixed with the crispness of ice. Miles decided to explore the shopfront. He froze when looking around the back of the counter atop which sat the register.
"Miles?"
The boy looked to his mother and shook his head. He slowly walked back to his remaining parent and gently folded her in a hug. The moment was something Mei would carry the rest of her days. A snapshot of the devastation the Honkai inflicted upon one and all. A snapshot of the strength that a child could find. To reassure a mother rather than allow emotions regarding death get the better of him. Mei's resolve strengthened further.
The information broker conjured up a large holographic map, centred it around where they current hid and highlighted with possible avenues of egress. Textureless blue buildings. Sensor shadows in green. Fingers tapped away at a haptic keyboard, occasionally tracing paths through the green and blue, other times pinching to zoom in or out.
"So what's with the boy, dear customer?"
"Don't play the fool."
Amarant looked up briefly from her work. Miles way showing his mother the flowers. They would reach out and touch them, tear away whole frozen flower buds and wonder at the impossibility.
"You let him get out of reach of his mother. Possible exposure to high doses of Honkai energy. Lethal I'd say. Hell of a gamble."
"It took me a little while to realise it. Very rare for boys to be compatible. And this one…"
Mei trailed away. Hard decisions weighed heavy on her shoulders.
"He's our current priority. Begin transferring the data from the suitcase. We cannot let Miles fall into World Serpent's hands."
"Think Schicksal will notice?"
"Not yet. Otto has records but little experience dealing with the real thing. Kaslana's don't count. Leftover detritus from the MANTIS program. Let's hide him in plain sight."
Amarant read the implication.
"Oh no. Nononono. Don't you fucking dare. Not right after this. That's bloody—"
"—No time like the present."
More than mirth bubbled through Mei's chuckle. Something bordering on psychotic. Destructive. Vicious. Ruinous. All Amarant could continue to do was swear more.
"How'd they find us?" Mei changed tack.
"My fault. We've been played all this time."
Amarant highlighted the course they had been taking. Along the way various security screens and access portals had been opening and closing. It was subtle but effective. Someone predicting their route ahead of time. Course corrections in real-time where necessary.
"If you know your prey is avoiding the light then you know they must be in the shadows," Mei mused. "Only so many shadows to hide in.
"They're good." Amarant looked frustrated and embarrassed. "Really good. I didn't see this."
"We all make mistakes. So how do we fix it?"
The pair glared at the holographic map. If they remained in the sensor blind spots then they could still be roughly hemmed in. Sure, they could leap through the skies toward their destination. Announce their presence to one and all.
"Could you just crash through?"
Tatiana looked embarrassed for asking such a question. She and Miles had finished their tour of the florist. Now they stood politely to one side, listening in on the conversation and watching the holographic map as it was manipulated. Tatiana gripped the blade in her hand tightly. Miles was close by her side.
"You two are… Valkyrie… right? The way you move. Your strength and speed."
"Something like that," Mei obfuscated.
"But you're not with Schicksal. They way you talk about them says as much. Can you use your strength and speed to just crash through?"
Tatiana stepped into the hologram and pointed at a group of apartments back-to-back. A load-bearing wall for the first level above split them in two.
"Go up a couple of storeys on one side of those apartments to the north. They would have access points for servicing inside the wall. Inside just punch through the thinned section of wall to the access point on the other side. You can punch through walls, right?"
Seconds ticked by. Mei finally burst out laughing. It was ridiculous. Breaking through solid concrete to get to your destination. A very Durandal thing to do.
"You are a wealth of ideas," Mei praised.
The information broker plotted a path, with some detours to decrease their odds of detection, from the flower shop to the apartments.
It wasn't everyday a body landed beside you with a wet squelch. Mei typically kept her composure through all manner of surprise. But this event caught even her off-guard. She stepped away from the crumpled zombie. Another one splattered beside her. A quick glance upwards revealed a third zombie sailing through the air before gravity did its work. This corpse required dodging closer to the apartment complex. Miles and Amarant kept their faces impassive. Tatiana let out a horrified shriek as the rain of undead hit the concrete. Several stories up someone peered over the railing of the walkway.
It was sheer luck. No other way of putting it. This one little moment was what decided the entire day, the entire battle, perhaps in some ways the entire war. Mei's foot caught on something. Just negotiating her way around the pulverised corpses. That's luck for you. A little misstep. Enough to send her pinwheeling forward. Silver glinted at her feet but she never caught sight of what it was. Silver in the sky was what grabbed her attention. There was only one thing Mei knew of that flew so fast. A quick hand gesture sent everyone scurrying for cover. Mei hip-and-shouldered a door open into a ground-level apartment. Inside was a porch much cluttered with shoes and jackets. Things hastily thrown into bags and then discarded. Fear motivated haste. Mei punched a mirror on the wall. One fragment she slid outside. The door was closed until on a sliver of light peered through. Another mirror fragment she arranged against the wall. Via the two Mei had a good view out the sky outside.
The silver object in the sky grew. Mei's suspicions were right. Durandal in the silver and blue of her Godsbane battlesuit. The Valkyrja flew toward where the four people hid. She stopped and appeared to converse with the unknown person several stories up. The angle of broken mirror didn't show who it was. Likely that same individual kicking zombies off their walkway of their apartment. The image of the woman, long blonde hair rippling in the cold wind, set Mei's teeth on edge. More so when the Valkyrja nodded before flying off.
"She really is an ethically bankrupt bitch," Mei muttered.
"Is something wrong?" Tatiana asked cautiously.
"I'll explain later."
"Not like we can cast much shade," Amarant whispered.
"We're not here to fight the Honkai. That's Schicksal. If I thought they could do a competent job I might work with them. Instead she goes and…"
That line of anger and passion was quashed. Mei took a deep breath, centred herself and considered the situation.
'Whoever Bianca spoke to saw and heard us. Likely Bianca would have asked about any survivors. She's hunting for us. Likely stay local. Canvass the area. Good odds she tries to fight me. Would disregard the other survivors. Or get rid of them. Something is not right. No. Focus. What to do now. What do to.'
A serpent's smile slowly spread wide.
"Everybody. I have a plan."
The Light Wing jets kept the Valkyrja hovering mid-air. The TACTICA module of the Bright Knight: Excelsis battlesuit conducted a high-resolution scan of the area. Another chill gust blew through Durandal's blonde hair. She looped a loose strand behind one ear and continued the investigation. The TACTICA module had already created a machine learning algorithm for analysis of displacement of ice and snow on the ground. Her AR interface kept the official Schicksal map of Coral in one corner, allowing her to cover ground quickly and efficiently. Tactically to her mind there weren't many routes left that survivors could follow that would allow for avoidance of Honkai beasts and the undead. She would have noticed if Raiden was engaging in combat so that meant the woman was resorting to stealth.
A happy chirp chimed in one ear. A group of yellow circles followed previously invisible footprints along the icy road. The footprints ended at an apartment. A soft glint of light caught Durandal's eye. A small piece of mirror.
"Clever," Durandal acknowledged.
The door burst open. Mei, three unknown civilians close behind, dashed toward a monorail station on the opposite side of the street. Durandal swept down, only to be swerve to one side as a supersonic projectile flashed by. Mei held several stainless-steel cutting knives. She aimed another at Durnandal, lightning crackling around the blade before it was launched at supersonic speed. This one Durandal blocked with Queen's shield. Two more blades were fired at Durandal. Each was stopped by the Phantom's shield.
"Get ahead of me!" Mei shouted.
The three civilians ran past Mei and into the monorail station. Durandal recognised Mei's plan. The same dance as Arc City. Durandal would have to make a choice between her main target or something of equal importance. Clearly, they were someone of value. It was a gamble with Durandal deciding whether to bet on red or black. The same mistake would not be made. Durandal had her target and it was made priority beyond all else.
Her target was the Herrscher.
The Valkyrja landed on the ground with a heavy thump and sprinted toward Mei. It was barely a second of sprint between one side of the road and other. The charge ended in a lethal thrust from Hler's Serentity. Mei just barely managed to knock the attack aside with her katana. The blade was on unfamiliar design. Durandal better grasped how Mei thought due to their previous encounter. Everything was underhanded. Everything was permissible. Nothing should be taken for granted. She withdrew a pace before springing into a series of thrusts. Mei did her best to deflect and parry the attacks. But the barrage put her quickly on the back foot. She ducked under one thrust, only to have Durandal bring a knee up to her face. The blade ward activated, a brief shield materialising and taking the blow.
Mei was not the only one capable of surprises. Durandal let go of her lance, grabbed Mei by the hair, hefted her up, knocked the blade away with her free hand and kicked her with enough force to send her flying through a brick wall. The Valkyrja knew she didn't have to hold back this time. Her minor efforts previously had inflicted only moderate injuries. She could afford to hit the girl a little harder. Durandal picked up her lance and entered the building.
The Valkyrja stalked the brick-dust and chill mist filled tunnel. Upon closer inspection it appeared she had kicked Mei through several offices on the ground level of the monorail station. A hole was punched neatly through each partition of wood, glass, metal and brick. As Durandal followed the path of destruction the lights failed.
"Your usual tricks," Durandal whispered.
The TACTICA module activated a night vision enhancement. The world was painted in shades of green. Durandal listened attentively. Eyes were easily deceived. What you could hear, smell and touch was much harder to imitate. She didn't bother summoning the Scutum Divintas shield. The knife she caught in bare hands.
"This seems rather crude for you," Durandal noted.
The weapon had been thrown rather than rail-gun launched. What was the point of such a simple attack? Durandal could flip a Honkai beasts several stories tall over her should with raw strength. A knife in the dark served no purpose. Keeping the knife in hand she strode further down the tunnel of ruin her kick had created. Tables were torn in two. Filing cabinets shattered. An urn, the water quite possibly still scalding even in the abominable cold, had a third of it's metal body.
'A test. She is determining my reaction speeds within a sensory impaired environment. The force behind the throw is moderately stronger than our previous encounter. It would pierce plasma steel 3mm thick. Schicksal intelligence confirmed Mei has become a full Herrscher. This would account for her 5% increase in strength. Likely she is holding back. Conservatively she has increased in power 10%. An additional 5% burst is possible for short durations. Such an increase in such a few short weeks is impressive. But still underwhelming.'
Durandal finally breached the last hole in the wall. She stood in what would have once been a bustling monorail terminal. The room was several metres wide and quadruple as long. The monorail line split the length of the room. The architecture was neo art-deco, sleek and stylised columns of reinforced concrete, androgynous metal figures adorning the walls, floors tiled. The power had failed in this building too. Darkness cloaked the fixtures like a cold tomb. The debris, carried along from the many walls Mei had flown through, was scattered across the floor and filled the air. Particulate matter also hung heavy in the air.
'Environmental mist only accounts for some of the visual impediment. She has scored multiple support pillars with her weapon. That would explain the concrete dust.'
The Valkyrja nodded her head once in acknowledgement of her foes battlefield awareness and adaptability. That was all she did before Mei struck. Wielding katana and wakizashi, the woman dashed out of the grimy darkness and on silent feet. Durandal whipped up her lance and knocked quick slashes aside. Mei began to give ground as the Valkyrja pressed a counterattack. Someone would initially have believed Durandal to have the advantage. Narrow space between the pillars with a thrusting weapon, superior strength and a Godsbane battlesuit guaranteed victory.
It also did not.
Durandal was stronger. But her reaction times we equalled if not surpassed by Mei. All the power meant nothing if you could not touch your opponent. The Godsbane battlesuits primary advantage, the twin Phantoms King and Queen, could not manifest within the confined space. Finally there were the pillars. Many were intentionally sabotaged. A strong enough blow would sunder them. As they were load bearing structures, if too many were lost then the entire structure would collapse. The reasoning behind this was realised by Durandal as the duel progressed. The Valkyrja stormed forward, Light Wings propelling her toward the target. Mei waited until the very last second before reacting, spinning both blades to face upward and striking the tip of the lance, barely managing to guide it into the pillar. Concrete and white hot shattered steel flew from the impact. Mei's counterattack was several quick slashes and stabs with her wakizashi, Katana used defensively, the smaller blade targeting throat, elbow and wrist. Durandal pulled back, hefting her lance and using brief timed thrusts to keep her opponent at bay.
'The same tactics as before. Mei is aware of her power disparity. Therefore, she has opted for a tactical advantage. If I press an attack, she will deflect the attack into a pillar. Loose enough pillars and the station collapses. I would survive. There is no guarantee Mei would. She bargains her life against me. Logically I must pull my punches, use less force and rely more on precision. It is an intelligent delaying strategy.'
"But not enough," Durandal said in a low voice.
"Pardon?"
Durandal swung Hler's Serenity in a wide arc overhead. The strength behind the attack tore the lance through the ceiling like wet paper. Mei could just barely react. She brought her katana up with both hands and caught the lance in the middle, feinting to one side as she guided the lance in the other. The overwhelming strength of the attack forced Mei to let go of her blade even as she barely dodged it. With weapons out the way Durandal resorted to close quarters combat. Quick jabs with either fist surprised Mei. She was forced to take the first strike directly with forearms. The blow sent her flying into the rear wall of the station. Concrete spiderweb fractured from the impact, the woman dropping to her hands and knees.
"I swear I've been her before," Mei muttered under her breath.
Somehow her forearms hadn't shattered. In a blue flicker Durandal was standing above Mei, leg lifted above head. The axe kick fell, Mei rolling to one side and drawing wakizashi from behind her back. With a blade down grip she faced Durandal head on. The quick punches and kicks Mei battered to one side with her free hand then countering with vicious slashes. The assassination techniques of the Hokushin Itto Ryu were put to use. Durandal swept the legs, Mei cartwheeling over the attack, grabbing concrete dust in the process, tossing it in the Valkyrja's eyes in the same motion. The underhand tactic surprised Durandal. Mei went in for the kill. With eyes blinded Durandal dodged or knocked aside the slashes and feints. She had studied the fighting style Mei had mastered. Could read what kata she used, anticipate and counter each attack even blinded as she was.
The attacks stopped. Silence.
Metal scraped concrete.
Scutum Divinitas activated as Hler's Serenity slammed into Durandal's back. She had not expected Mei to have the strength to pick up the lance. Nor the wilfulness to hurl the weapon back at its owner. The impact sent Durandal stumbling forward a pace. The momentum the Valkyrja used to turn on the spot, catch Hler by the haft and ready for the next…
…
Nothing followed. Tears finally cleared the dust from eyes. The terminal was still. Silent. Mei was the sort to attack from the gloom when their enemy lowered their guard. A chirp from the TACTICA module highlighted faint footprints leading down the tracks. Durandal activated her Light Wings and gave quick chase.
Raiden stepped out from the hole she punched through the monorail station and onto the street. One corner of her mouth was curled with smug satisfaction. Her Bunshin Spectre was holding up well against Durandal. Raiden's heightened mental capabilities meant splitting her awareness between the Spectre and her body was little of a burden. She would continue to kite Durandal further along the monorail line before collapsing the illusion.
Einstein's idea of manifesting temporary clones with some tangibility via Honkai energy and electromagnetic discharge had served Raiden well in the past. The loss of the Shadow Dash battlesuit didn't meant such techniques were lost either. It had taken some practice, but her awakening as a full Herrscher had given Raiden more than enough power and precision to create more advanced versions of the original clones. Several weeks practice in the Honkai faraday cage had perfected the technique.
"If a Necromancer controls the undead," Amarant had quipped boozy night, "Then controlling those things makes you a Spectramancer."
Raiden and three Bunshin Spectres made to look like her allies had run from the apartment. The three clones Mei had dissolved after they were out of sight. Being sent flying into the monorail station had made it that much easier. Once inside, Raiden had quickly recovered and sent her Bunshin Spectre out to guide Durandal. All it took was one thrown knife from the Spectre and the Valkyrja had taken the bait. The shadows were Raiden's element. The No #1 S-rank Valkyrja had never sensed her presence.
By now the other three would have reached the survivor up several stories and were hiding inside. Raiden jogged toward the stairwell. The smug look on her face refused to fade.